Green Critical Minerals (ASX:GCM) has completed the third stage of an earn-in agreement to acquire 80% of the McIntosh Graphite Project in Western Australia, having spent in excess of $4 million on expenditure over the past two years.
The McIntosh project is considered to have the fourth largest graphite resource in Australia, containing 1.1 million tonnes of contained graphite.
As part of the fourth stage, Green Critical Minerals, through its wholly owned subsidiary GCM Graphite, will form an unincorporated joint venture with Hexagon Energy Materials (ASX:HXG).
Both companies will explore and evaluate the graphite minerals within the project’s tenements.
Green Critical Minerals, which has a market capitalisation of $11.44 million, says both companies have agreed terms of a formal joint venture agreement, but unfortunately Hexagon has not agreed to execute it due to ongoing legal proceedings in the Supreme Court of Western Australia.
As part of those proceedings, Hexagon has made a counterclaim alleging that GCM did not comply with certain requirements of the binding term sheet in relation to the second stage of the earn-in period.
GCM Graphite has lodged a defence to Hexagon’s counterclaim and plans to continue to prosecute its claims and its defence to Hexagon’s counterclaim in the event the dispute cannot be resolved on a commercial basis.
In this regard, GCM notes that the matter was recently the subject of a confidential mediation in the Supreme Court of Western Australia, which has been adjourned.
Green Critical Minerals is an Australian-based mineral explorer and developer focused on building an Australian mine to market graphite business.
Graphite is the largest component in a lithium-ion battery and requires the largest production increase of any battery mineral.
Write to Aaliyah Rogan at Mining.com.au
Images: Green Critical Minerals
